The invention relates to systems combining magnetic recording/reproducing apparatuses with video cameras and, more particularly, to such systems suited for photo recording without an attending camera operator or photographer.
In recent years, a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus which is conventionally called a videocassette recorder (VCR) has been developed in various types. Such VCRs have been widely distributed and are now considered a virtual necessity for the home, with demand rapidly increasing. A VCR for home use generally uses half-inch tape recorded in accordance with the video home system (VHS) standard. Such a VCR is usually placed in the living room of a home to record television broadcasts and to reproduce the recorded broadcasts as desired.
Also in recent years, portable camcorders have been developed which record video signals so they can be played back using the above-described VCRs. This camcorder also uses half-inch or 8 mm tape. In such a portable camcorder, a photographer views an object via a viewfinder and photographs the object. Then, an image of the photographed object is recorded on a magnetic tape and the image can be reproduced by a user at any time. Portable camcorders with viewfinders that use liquid-crystal display devices for viewing the objects being photorecorded, rather than optical viewfinders, have been recently developed which permit playback from the magnetic tape to regenerate images on the liquid-crystal display devices. Portable camcorders are designed for use by a camera operator to function together with his eye and the rest of his body to become an extension of him.
The inventors point out there are a number of types of photo recording that are not very well implemented with a portable camcorder and are better implemented using differently configured systems of magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and video camera, where the video camera is specifically designed for operation without the continuing attention of a camera operator and manipulation of the camera position by the camera operator. The presence of a camcorder operator tends to place a photographed person (subject) on his guard or feel self-conscious, so the subject will, intentionally or otherwise, behave in an unnatural manner. Although events (conferences, weddings, interviews, etc.) may be recorded using a camcorder and tripod, so that a camcorder operator need not attend the camcorder during photo recording, such camncorders are generally costly and the preparation and placement of a tripod is inconvenient. The weight of the recording/reproducing apparatus in the camcorder requires a tripod of substantial strength and stability, especially since a rather expensive camcorder is at risk of damage should tipping over of the tripod occur.
Certain types of surveillance, such as that used in banks or in other places of commerce subject to robbery, and such as that used in apartment buildings or factories where intruders may have to be later identified, are well-known applications in which photo recording customarily is performed without video cameras being attended. Systems of magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and video camera for performing such surveillance use custom installations with individual magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and video camera(s) connected by cabling of lengths to suit the particular installations.
The inventors point out that there exist markets for new systems of magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and video camera, where the video camera is designed for operation without the continuing attention of a camera operator and where custom installation with the complications of providing cabling is not required or is so simplified that it can be done by anyone, rather than requiring technicians. One such new system, proposed by the inventors for home use, is one in which the video camera is packaged together with magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus designed for resting on a desk or table and being oriented for photo recording a desired field-of-view. Self-photography while seated at a desk or table, during the preparation of videotape xe2x80x9clettersxe2x80x9d to relatives and friends, could be found desirable by a number of persons. Using a portable camcorder, however, a photographer cannot easily photograph himself.
In other new systems suited for home use, the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus can be contained in a first unitary package together with a radio receiver for receiving television signals transmitted from a video camera contained in a second unitary package together with a low-power radio transmitter for its video signals, which secondary package is small enough to be conveniently placed together with or in the first unitary package. The radio receiver is designed for receiving broadcast television signals and detecting video and audio signals therefrom. The separate package with the video camera and low-power radio transmitter is referred to in this specification and its claims as a xe2x80x9cwireless satellite video cameraxe2x80x9d. The word xe2x80x9csatellitexe2x80x9d as used in this in this specification and its claims does not refer to heavenly bodies, but rather refers to the linked relationship of a video camera to a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus. The term xe2x80x9cwireless satellite video cameraxe2x80x9d is to be construed to exclude the camera and radio transmitter combinations that use high-power radio transmitters such as encountered in television broadcasting, cablecasting or narrowcasting over long distances. Cabling between the satellite video camera and the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus is avoided by using a wireless link from the video camera to the recording/reproducing apparatus. It is advantageous to use substantially the same form of modulation of the carrier in this wireless link as is used in broadcast television, so that the broadcast television receiver customarily included in a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus for use in the home can be adapted to is receive wireless transmissions from the video camera. To comply with broadcasting regulations, however, the channel for the wireless transmissions may be different than those used for television broadcasting in which case the tuner of the broadcast signal radio receiver is suitably adapted for receiving that channel in addition to normal broadcast channels. The wireless satellite camera can be equipped with remote control to control its operation (e.g. to control the tilt and pan of the camera, which remote control can use the same infra-red or radio-frequency remote control system used for the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, designs for those general types of remote control system being well known in the art. The video being recorded can be monitored by the remote camera operator by viewing a television receiver supplied signal from the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus.
The satellite video camera can be designed for being detachably mounted on the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus. Such a satellite video camera can be used in lieu of a video camera incorporated into the same package as the recording/reproducing apparatus. Or such a satellite video camera can be detachably mounted on the recording/reproducing apparatus so as to record a field-of-view different from the field-of-view recorded from a video camera incorporated into the same package as the recording/reproducing apparatus. Such arrangement permits the recording of two persons seated on opposite sides of a table on which the recording/reproducing apparatus rests to be made on an alternative basis or on a split-field basis. This facilitates the preparation of videotape xe2x80x9clettersxe2x80x9d from more than one person, for example.
When photographing a meeting procedure using a camcorder, the camera should be directed toward a given speaker. In general, a photographer who manipulates the camera photographs each speaker individually. Otherwise, the photographing of several persons using a plurality of cameras generally requires editing of multiple photorecordings to assemble a single photo recording. However, the former case causes inconveniences due to the tracking and photographing of every speaker, while the latter case increases production costs. A better solution, the inventors believe, is to use a video camera than can be directed by remote control.
Another better solution, the inventors believe, is to use a video camera than can be automatically directed towards a source of sound to photograph the person currently speaking during the meeting. An audio direction recognition system using a pair of microphones which are spatially separated from each other to identify the is direction of a second signal source with respect to a first signal source is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,758. The inventors point out that such an audio direction recognition system can be adapted for pointing a video camera, which is linked to magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus by wireless or is included within the apparatus.
Much of the disclosure provided in this specification and its drawing is drawn from the inventors"" Korean patent applications Nos. 94-1982 and 94-9086 filed on Feb. 3, 1994 and on Apr. 28, 1994, respectively, which applications are incorporated herein by reference but not as essential matter for supporting the claims which follow this specification.
The invention in a broad aspect thereof is embodied in a system comprising a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and a radio receiver within a unitary package, the recording/reproducing apparatus including recording electronics and playback electronics, and the radio receiver being of a type responsive to a selected television signal for supplying a composite video signal to the recording electronics at selected times. A video camera in the system also supplies composite video signal for selective application to the recording electronics at other times, the supplying of those composite video signals to said recording electronics being done in accordance with the invention by means other than cabling from the video camera to the unitary package.
In certain systems embodying the invention in one of its aspects, the video camera is included within the same unitary package as the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, thus to eliminate cabling from the video camera to the unitary package.
In certain other systems embodying another aspect of the invention, the video camera is included with a low-power radio transmitter in a separate package from the unitary package including the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and the radio receiver. The low-power radio transmitter is designed to transmit the composite video signal from the video camera by wireless link to the radio receiver within the same unitary package as the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, thereafter to be recorded.
Other aspects of the invention concern solutions to particular problems encountered in the implementation of these systems, such as remote control of the wireless satellite video camera, automatic pointing of the video camera in the direction of a sound source, and automatic covering of the lens of a video camera included within the same unitary package as the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus.